- ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Hardline
Islamic parties which have emerged as potential coalition partners after
a general election in Pakistan said on Monday they would seek to impose
Islamic law in the country and ask U.S. troops to leave.
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- Talks over who would form a coalition in parliament gathered
pace, with the focus of the outside world on whether the Islamic front,
which recorded stunning gains in last Thursday's poll, would be part of
the government or in opposition.
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- The election, designed to return Pakistan to civilian
rule after a coup in 1999, has been strongly criticised by European Union
observers who said the military tipped the voting in its favour to allow
President Pervez Musharraf to hold on to power.
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- "We assure the international community that we are
not terrorists," Qazi Hussain Ahmed, vice president of the Mutahidda-e-Amal
(MMA) Islamic coalition, told a news briefing in Islamabad where he set
out his party's stall.
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- "We will not use this country for terrorism, nor
allow anyone to use this country for terrorism," he said, before adding:
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- "But we do not approve of foreign interference.
For this we do not need any help from the American forces nor their bases
in the country. There should also be no such bases here which could be
used for interference in the affairs of neighbouring states."
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- He was referring to the small U.S. military presence
in Pakistan concentrated at the Jacobabad air base, from where search and
rescue operations in Afghanistan are launched.
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- The MMA is also likely to oppose the small numbers of
U.S. intelligence agents helping Pakistani forces track down al Qaeda suspects
in tribal areas near the Afghan border.
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- MMA Chairman Shah Ahmed Noorani told reporters in Karachi
that his party supported the introduction of Islamic sharia law.
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- "Our first priority is to implement Islamic laws
in the country and we will not compromise in this issue. Now it is the
responsibility of the state to protect Islam and do away with secular norms."
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- The MMA won 50 seats, eclipsing religious parties' performance
at the 1997 election when they won just two. It makes them the third largest
party behind the Pakistan Muslim League Quaid-e-Azam or PML(QA) with 77
seats and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) which won 62.
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- "KING'S PARTY" LAYS LOW
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- In contrast to the vocal MMA, the PML(QA), has kept a
low profile since becoming the largest party in parliament at the election.
-
- Dubbed the "king's party" for its perceived
support of Musharraf, its leader Mian Mohammad Azhar suffered the humiliation
of not winning a seat, forcing him to hand over the reins to Chaudhry Shujaat
Hussain.
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- Local media reported talks between PML(QA) and the PPP
led by exiled former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, which was the second
largest party ahead of the MMA.
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- But it is far from clear whether the two parties would
be able to resolve their differences, with PML(QA) seen as a loose union
of candidates designed to weaken the anti-Musharraf lobby and the PPP fiercely
opposed to continued military rule.
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- For his part, the leader of the PPP in Pakistan, Makhdoom
Amin Fahim, told Reuters late on Sunday he had not ruled out joining forces
either with the PML(QA) or the MMA.
-
- The fact that the MMA is a grouping of such disparate
religious parties opposed to each other in the past raises questions about
its ability to remain united, analysts said.
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- And how much the composition of the coalition in Pakistan
actually matters remains to be seen.
-
- By enhancing his powers through constitutional changes,
which gave him the right to dissolve parliament and cemented the role of
the military in government, Musharraf remains strong.
-
- His decision to ban Bhutto and another exiled former
premier, Nawaz Sharif, from contesting the election infuriated opponents,
as did his decision to hold a controversial referendum in April that extended
his rule for five years.
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